I found a 4.3L mated witha 4L60 tranny for a reasonable price out of a 2WD Chevy truck. What kind of issues might be associated with a swap like this? Will it mate withj my Dana 300? Stock 4.2 has around 143,000 and I don't think it's ever been rebuilt and it's response is feeling pretty sluggish. Time for a change, I think.

4.3 votec would be a great swap for a daily driver. Good balance of mileage and power- both of which would be increase over stock. The transmission will not bolt up to the tcase, as it is a 2wd model. Even with a 4wd transmisson you will need adapters to bolt up to a Dana 300.

Engine mounts and most of everything else would be the same as a Chevy V8 which has been done a gazillion times.

What year is the tranny? Doesn't really matter if it is four or two wheel drive, you can make both work with the D300 with either a $500 adapter from Novak or AA; or a $50 NP208 adapter and a $175 input shaft for your D300. Since it is a 2WD, you will need another output shaft for your tranny, can be as little as $40. If it is the 4L60E, you will need a high dollar controller for it, I think they came out in 93?

It's out of a 2007 full size p/u and only has a few thousand miles. But it sounds like I may be better off with one out of a 4wd considering all the adapters posisbly required. I've never done an engine swap and would pay a shop to do it because I'm not talented enough to do it right.

Is a 4.0L a more logical swap than a 4.3L Vortec? I know the 4.3L has about the same rated hp, but it has more torque, although the 4.0 peaks at lower rpm. Also, I'm fairly sure that the 4.3 is more fuel efficent than the 4.0. I had a 4.0 in a 2000 TJ and it sucks gas quickly. Kinda funny that my Dodge Cummins gets about 17-18 mpg and weighs around 7500 and the TJ weighs about 3500 and only got 10mpg, which is still better than my current 4.2 is getting.

It doesn't matter if it's a 4wd or 2wd, you need the same adapters. THe only difference is that you will need a 4wd output shaft, which is shorter. That's really the only difference (pre 93 anyway). If you go with that tranny(post 93, which yours is), it will have to be controlled by the computer, so make sure you get that with the swap. Since it is required to be controlled by a computer, that's as far as my knowledge goes. Good Luck!

Dirteater,
Do a search for posts from myself or from Dirtman13. We have both done the 4.3/4L60E swap. Niether of us have big writeup on it but i will be more then happy to help with any info you need.
BTW is the motor from the Guy on ebay selling the part outs? If so good to work with. I got a 03 setup w/ 28,000 and all the harnesses for $1200.